Back to You
by ButtahBenzoObsessed
Summary: Post-time jump Emison. Canon up to 6A finale, then probably AU since we have no idea what'll happen from here on out. The universe has a funny way of bringing you back to people you thought you would never see again.


**Long time no post, I know. Sorry about that guys. I had every intention on writing this summer but, as always, life got in the way. Between an unsteady work schedule (namely working 5-6 days a week and not being able to stick to a set schedule) and trying to spend time with family and friends before I go back to college, I've had little to no time to write, not to mention not having any inspiration to.**

 **BUT after that little snippet of the time jump last night I got this idea in my head. I'm complete Emison trash and there's no way I'm giving up hope for them. I tried to keep this canon with everything leading up to 6B, but after that shit storm of a finale I don't even know what I do and don't know anymore. Way too many plot holes, but that's a rant for another day...**

 **We know Ali is a teacher after the time jump, but we're not entirely sure what Emily is up to so I'm going to go ahead and write her doing what I want to see her doing.**

 **-x-x-x-**

"Alright, settle down," Mrs. Rollins called over the noise of her class as the tardy bell rang, signaling that it was time for the lesson to start. "Now, your homework last night was to read chapters twenty-five through thirty of Great Expectations. I know perfectly well that you all take reading assignments to mean that there is no homework, so please, by a show of hands, how many of you actually read it?"

The teacher internally cringes as only five of her thirty students signal that they read the assigned chapters while the rest of her students try to avoid her disapproving gaze at all costs.

"I suppose that means we'll be reading them as a class today then," the blonde announces as the students groan in protest. "If you had read them last night like you were supposed to we could go straight into the lesson, but seeing as though only a handful of you did, that's not going to be possible. You need to have read the content before you can adequately engage in a discussion about it. We'll take it one chapter at a time, write down anything you think is interesting or any questions you have and we'll go over it after everyone has read that chapter and then we'll move on to the next one. Understood?"

-x-x-x-

Emily Fields carefully drove her jeep through the gates of the New Cumberland Army base and headed towards the interstate to get back to the place she once called home. After graduating from Pepperdine with honors, Emily decided to follow in her dad's footsteps and she enlisted in the United States Army, thankful that she was based in a city just three hours from home. She had just finished her first tour overseas, a short six month journey that left her aching to get back to somewhere familiar. Luckily enough, she was scheduled to speak at Rosewood High that afternoon as part of her duty on the recruitment team and then she was given two weeks leave before she had to get back to the base.

She was anxious to get home, anxious to find a certain blonde. After a bittersweet goodbye in Rosewood five years ago, she had not heard from Alison since. In fact, she hadn't heard anything about her either. Jason was of no help, too disgusted with the fact that he dated his own sibling that later tortured their own family that he drank himself into a stupor yet again. The brunette had tried reaching out to Kenneth as well, but, as usual, the man wasn't helpful in the slightest. He packed up everything and left as soon as he got the chance, leaving his own kids behind to fend for themselves. But Alison was strong, Emily knew she would find a way to achieve everything she wanted in life.

Emily had tried to find her. She even had one of her buddies in the computer science and tracking divisions look for her, but there was no record of Alison Dilaurentis after graduating from Rosewood High. No mailing address, no credit cards, not even any tax records. Emily assumed the blonde had finally made her way to Paris and disappeared under an alias, but there was no information for a Holly Varjack or Vivian Darkbloom either. She had no idea what other name to search for so she had no other choice but to give up for the time being. If she knew anything, it was that if Alison didn't want to be found, you weren't going to find her.

-x-x-x-

"Has everyone finished chapter twenty-nine?" Mrs. Rollins asked her class, a majority of the students' heads nodding. "Okay, now this time, I want you all to tell me your favorite line from the chapter, why it's your favorite, or what you think it means if it seems to be something cryptic. Anyone want to go first?"

Of course no one raised their hand.

"Samantha, why don't you start," the blonde standing before the class decided.

"Um, I like the part where Estella pulls Pip's head to hers and tells him that she changed so she could be loved, to be loved by him. She tells Pip to love her. I like it because it shows that she does care about him despite how she treated him in the past. I think she knows she messed up and she did everything she could to change and she wants to make up for it," Samantha stammers out.

"Very good, Sam. I like that part as well. I relate to it too well," she mutters the last part to herself.

-x-x-x-

Emily had just finished speaking to a class about all the responsibilities and benefits of the military and she was currently strolling down the hallway to the cafeteria, hoping to get there before the lunch bell rang and the place would be overrun by teenagers that would get all the good food choices before she had a chance.

She heard a voice float through one of the open classroom doors and it stopped her in her tracks. She hasn't hear that voice in half a decade, but she would know it anywhere. She followed the voice and came to a stop right outside the door way, peaking her head around the corner to make sure that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, to make sure that is _was_ the girl who read the same line of Great Expectations to her in the library all those years ago.

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness..."

"Against all discouragement that could be," Emily quietly said before she even realized what she was doing.

And as soon as the words left her mouth, the most beautiful pair of ocean blue eyes she had ever seen snapped up from the book and locked onto hers, her breath getting knocked out of her lungs as she took in the sight of the first woman she had ever loved, the woman she would always be in love with.

-x-x-x-

After a few more students had recited their favorite lines from the chapter and given their input, Mrs. Rollins began reciting her own favorite line, the line that took her back almost ten years to that dirty library floor, sitting behind rows and rows of dusty books that hadn't been touched in ages, to the deep chocolate eyes that showed such love and compassion for her even when she was at her worst.

"My favorite line comes at the beginning of the chapter: 'The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once and for all, I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be," she trailed off and shifted her gaze to the woman in uniform leaning against the doorjamb in the back of the room. Once she saw her, she couldn't take her eyes off of her. The years had certainly been kind to Emily, the once modest, shy girl she knew was now a vision of beauty and strength.

"Mrs. Rollins? Are you okay?" a young boy asked, snapping her out of her trance.

"Yes, yes," she rushed out as she glanced up at the clock. "You know what? Why don't you guys head to lunch a little early. If you see Principal Hackett, tell him I had to take an emergency phone call and that I let you go."

Happy to be the firsts in line for lunch, the students hurriedly packed up their belongings and scurried out of the classroom as fast as their legs would carry them.

"Mrs. Rollins, huh?"

"Emily," the blonde breathed as the brunette pushed off the doorjamb and into the classroom, settling just a few feet a head of her and now propping herself against a desk in the front row.

"You're married, " Emily states as she looks at the ring on Alison's left hand, her military training allowing her to not show a twinge of emotion even though she's crumbling on the inside.

"Technically.." the blonde gets cut off before she can even finish her sentence.

"What do you mean technically? You're either married or you're not, Alison."

"Shhh, keep your voice down. What I was going to say is technically Stella Rollins is married. Not Alison Dilaurentis."

"What?" the brunette's eyebrows knit together. "That doesn't make any sense."

The blonde sighed, knowing she's going to have to tell Emily everything if she wanted something good to come out of this conversation. "I'm not married, Em. Stella Rollins is my alias and that's part of my backstory. After you all left, I was put into a smaller version of the Witness Protection Program. There was no way I was going to be able to live a normal life with the name Dilaurentis. It has too many negative connotations. So in order to get into college and get a job, I had to take on a new life. And yeah, I know this is still Rosewood and everyone knows everyone, but at least with a different name, a different style, and the records provided by the program no one even bothered to dig any deeper. All I would get is "You look like that Dilaurentis girl" and then I would recite the backstory given to me and they would drop the subject. No one wants to talk about my family or what happened, so it was pretty easy to get them to let it go."

"Why not move somewhere nobody knows you? It would've been a lot easier," the soldier retorts.

"With what money, Em? My dad abandoned us. He was too messed up after everything with CeCe and what she did to our family. He ran the first chance he got."

"You could've called me. You know I would've done anything I could to help you, Ali."

"I know you would, but I couldn't do that to you, Emily. You were finally going to get away from here. I couldn't hold you back again. You suffered so much because of me, I wasn't about to hurt you anymore," the teacher explained.

Silence settled around the pair.

"Why Stella?" Emily finally asked.

"Because I always was the Estella to your Pip. Right?" Alison smiles hopefully.

"Yeah," Emily chuckles, "that you were."

"So, the army brat is officially a soldier? Where did that come from?"

Emily smiled solemnly, "You know me, always doing whatever I can to make my dad proud."

"I heard he passed away, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you Em. But I know that he's always been proud of you and I know that he's going to watch over you and keep you safe. Although, as much as you want to say you did this for your dad, I know it's because of who you are."

Emily shoots her a confused look.

"You're a protector, Em, you always have been. It's one of the things I love most about you," the blonde says quietly.

Deciding to take a chance, Emily boldly asks, "What else do you love about me?"

Not willing to hide anything any longer, the teacher locks her blue eyes with brown, speaking with conviction, "I love how big your heart it. I love how you always see the best in people, no matter how bad they might seem. I love how forgiving you are, how strong you are," Alison lets her eyes roam over Emily's body, "I love how fucking hot you look in your UTC's."

That earns a loud laugh from the brunette and Alison smiles, ecstatic to hear that sound again, "I love your laugh," she continues as she slowly closes the distance between them, "I love your smile, your eyes, how you can always cheer me up, and especially how you never gave up on me even when I gave you every reason to."

Emily's hands settled on Alison's hips as the blonde moved between her legs as she was still seated on the desk. She pulled the blonde closer until they were pressed together lightly before wrapping her arms completely around her, Ali's hands coming up to rest on the back of her neck, "I could never give up on you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm not letting you go again. Five years without you was complete hell. Not even fighting overseas could compare to the pain of not having you in my life. I love you, Alison. I always have and I know I always will."

Not able to control herself any longer, the teacher closes all distance between them. Their lips fuse together, and in that moment time stops. It feels even better than either woman remembers it. The last time they were pressed together like this, everything went to hell the next day and they never got back to a place where they could openly talk about what they felt for each other. Until now.

Time has a way of putting everything in perspective. It makes you realize where you went wrong, what you could've done differently, and it shows you just how much you missed out on. From this moment on, as their teeth tugged on bottom lips and their tongues and lips danced together rhythmically, both Emily and Alison knew that they were never going to miss out on any part of the other's life ever again. Now that the universe had led them back to each other, there was no separating them again.

 **-x-x-x-**

 **Longer than my usual one shots, but I know that doesn't make up for months without posting anything. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm going to try to find some inspiration and get back into the writing groove, but with a new semester starting in less than two weeks, I'm not sure how much downtime I'll have and I don't want to make any promises as to when the next story will be up.**

 **Please leave a review! I missed hearing all your thoughts and talking with you guys xo.**


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